Well, I've got it on the 360, and I loved it, indeed I recently just played through storymode again having not really done so since I got it.

However, it is a very niche game, which is a shame, because despite that it could have been so much more popular had it done the gameplay right - As I say, I loved it, but the criticisms about the gameplay are, in my opinion fair...

For example, the RTS elements - Tim Schafer can talk all he wants about how it's not supposed to be played like an RTS, but the fact remains that those battles were a massive ballache requiring me to recruit and order around units. They could have kept the stage battles but simply given you the solos, whilst getting two armies to fight each other - this would have been more epic (imagine, two hordes going at each other in the mists of the dry ice mines... You in amongst it using your guitar and axe to bring aid to besieged Headbangers, or dicing with their general in hand to hand combat in order to demoralise the enemy... It could have been amazing - instead I just pumped out as many units as I could and played intermittent facemelters to secure victory.), and gotten rid of the annoying having to recruit and try to control resources and such.

Further - The game was in dire need of a decent tutorial, or to be more specific: better and more obvious explanations of things, I'm pretty retarded, and as the lowest common denominator I found it irritating that I basically had to google how to free bound serpents, and legends.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is... Whilst I loved the first one, what I think it needs more than a PC release, is a sequel (or re-make), which focuses more on the awesome - Hack and Slash, Guitar solos, Epic Metal world with Epic Metal storyline. Getting rid of the bad parts - RTS being the main one.

Stu35:imagine, two hordes going at each other in the mists of the dry ice mines... You in amongst it using your guitar and axe to bring aid to besieged Headbangers, or dicing with their general in hand to hand combat in order to demoralise the enemy

...That's exactly how it did play, though, when you knew how to play it. The problem, like you said, was with the lacking tutorials: specifically, a lack of any emphasis on the importance of using the flag. If you use it, your troops will get moving automatically when they spawn, and you're actually able to do your own thing, hopping around the battlefield, helping out where you see fit. If you don't use it, that's when you have to go fetch new units from the base every ten seconds.

I never finished the 360 version, but if they've tightened up and balanced things over the years I can see myself getting this. I actually quit playing on 360 constantly thinking "man this whole setup is much more suited to KB&M". If this really is the ultimate metal fantasy strategy open-world headbanging ball buster I was expecting before, it's a sale.

Stu35:imagine, two hordes going at each other in the mists of the dry ice mines... You in amongst it using your guitar and axe to bring aid to besieged Headbangers, or dicing with their general in hand to hand combat in order to demoralise the enemy

...That's exactly how it did play, though, when you knew how to play it. The problem, like you said, was with the lacking tutorials: specifically, a lack of any emphasis on the importance of using the flag. If you use it, your troops will get moving automatically when they spawn, and you're actually able to do your own thing, hopping around the battlefield, helping out where you see fit. If you don't use it, that's when you have to go fetch new units from the base every ten seconds.

I disagree, it did not play like that - because I kept having to bloody well recruit new troops, replant rally flags, keep playing the rally troops solo because I couldn't remember where I left said bloody flag.

It sounds a minor thing, but when I'm busy kicking emo gravediggers in the face I don't want to have to keep hitting 'rb' to check that I've got enough troops, or enough fans to recruit more troops, or that I've got my rally flag where I need it in order to make sure my new troops arrive where they're needed.

Once again, I want to reiterate that I loved the game, to an extent I even enjoyed the stage battles, however I found the RTS elements of recruitment and resource management(even if they were incredibly rudimentary and boiled down to "secure a fan geiser or three, then pump out units until you're at max capacity and ATTACK!") to be completely unnecessary.